Updates

1. On puasa and sahur..

Its been 16 days and things are falling into routine. Of course, there is still the problem of figuring out what to buka each day but its a problem easily solved. Also, we've given up on eating nasi at sahur. Abah said it makes him tired during the day and the girls are not complaining. So, nasi at buka and breakfast menu at sahur. So far so good. This morning the girls had maggie, even! Harap2 it doesn't make them feel hungry too soon!

Hari ni we plan to buka kat McD jer...mummy has a reception until about 6.30 and Abg/Uncle Jo has his own plans. So, unless Abah cooks, McD is our best bet for a "proper" buka puasa today...

2. On weather...

another gloomy and cold day in Geneva but forecast for the weekend looks good...

3. On Soraya...

I thought i'd say something about Soraya..who has coped amazingly well since Wan left. No complaints whatsoevah! Sometimes i think (when I want to dramatize things) she doesn't really know how to express misery, if she's actually going through it. But today, somehow, I actually believe she's a happy child. She misses Wan, no doubt. But not to the point of being miserable! She has been, from the day Wan left, her usual pot-pet self! And Mummy is ever so proud...

4. On Mumsie...

I finally got the OK letter for me to go back for PTK..So Malaysia, see you soon! My only thought on this..tak sabarnya nak gi hair saloon!!!

5. On life in general..

no updates...we're still doing OK...

Cold days

yeap..the cold days are back! Looks like we skipped autumn and went straight to winter! As we speak, am decked in my winter garbs - jumpers and boots! Seeing that this is our last autumn/winter, am praying for loads of snow to come soon!

Like i've said before, i love these cold seasons...every excuse to drink loads of coffee and snuggle into bed as early as 6pm (would like to have written 5 pm but that would mean letting people know that I would skive from work just to get into bed that early!!). But the main thing...the earth looks its best when it snows!! Check these out - taken last winter in Geneva -

Hmmm...wonder if we would still be here when the next snow falls...oohh nevermind! I leave this post with my all time favourite picture of us..

check out the green shoes! BALLY tau! hehehe...

Just Quickly..

Just quickly wanted to say...

1. I know i started off blaming parents for whatever happens to their children..but seriously, I wasn't thinking of Jazimin and Norazian - why laaa want to add to their sufferings? Menteri-menteri kita and Polis kita tak der hati perut ker? Or they are desperately trying to remain "relevant"? In an obscure-sicko kind of way?

2. Get well soon Dr Mahathir!

3. What to cook for buka arrr?

Is she or is she not??

I really do not want to dwell on this but being a parent I just cannot help it! Is that girl (somehow difficult to state her name..dunno why...) who the scientists claim her to be? At first, I thought the parents were merely in denial..ye lah..like the mother said, who would want to admit that it is their daughter who met with such an inhumane end! But after reading what the dad has further to say...I have my doubts now although Harian Metro reported today the family did claim the body and may have buried her already as we speak.

Words cannot describe how I feel about this whole saga (can I use this word here?). For the life of me I know I can never imagine what the mom is going through...I just hope she's strong, kuatkan iman and think of her other children who would surely be traumatised as well. Easier said than done, I know...

Really folks..when I started this blog I had intended for it to be filled only with happy stories..stories of our own adventures...

But life is not like that at all, is it? Its not about what WE plan...its about what HE has in store for us...ALLAH HU AKBAR!

p.s. Having said all of the above, I still hope the 3 teenage girls who returned home after running away got the whacking that they deserve from the parents!! I hope the parents would punish them for all the worries and heartache they caused during those days they were "missing"! Not to mention the waste of resources by police and others in looking for them! I hope the parents are not letting them get away by merely saying.."we're just glad they are back..." hhmmmppphhh! All should not be forgiven!!

Arrest the Mom!!

That's what Kak Ngah said when I told her and the others that the girl found dead near Geneva was initally abducted after going back on her own to the pool to fetch some things she left behind. Her mom let her go on her own although she was only 5 years old! So, my girls agreed that its the mom's fault and to a very large extent, I agree too! But then again, the mom was supposedly waiting for her right outside the pool area so, i suppose this is a case of malang-tak-berbau...In all fairness, the mom must be suffering inside out at the moment, surely wishing that she had never let the daughter out of her sight at all...

Am also, to a great extent, in agreement with our Chief Police when he said that parents must be blamed when their kids run away from home. Back when I was on the bench (chewah..as if I was an actual judge!) I use to tell the police to remand the parents as well for cases when their daughters run away with the boyfriends and ended up raped! I think it should be an arrestable offence, at least, for not preventing your daughters, especially when they are below 16 from having boyfriends in the first place and from going out without you after maghrib!

I don't know...I don't profess to be a great mummy but I believe I would know if my girls are unhappy, especially if they are unhappy enough to leave home without me knowing! Then again, kids nowadays..so different from when I was a kid!

Am also sad to read that the girl found in the sports bag yesterday has not been identified...where are her parents? Aren't they reading newspapers or watching the news??

Organized no more...

By the by...we were late again this morning! Luckily the schools here do not have prefects like they do in Malaysia. So they don't have any power hungry fellow students waiting for them at the front door to the school looking like miniature sirs and ma'ams, equipped with clipboard and red pens! Here, they only need to sign their name at the reception counter. Itupun, Kak Long and Kak Ngah selalu ngelat - they walk straight pass the queue and terus masuk kelas! hehe...pandai anak2 mummy...

Kept telling them that we need to be more organized but am thinking now...no point in organizing things when you wake up late!!! So..seriously...must get a louder alarm clock!! One that could wake the entire family at the same time! Especially Sarah! Gosh...this fasting is soooo trying...

Am ranting coz I still have no idea what to cook for buka today...

The end of Harry Potter

Don't tell my boss but I just spent the last half hour in the office finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! Told you I have time to read nowadays (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)!!

Anyway, it was good! Good from beginning to end. I expected a disappointing ending but it wasn't at all although Dumbledore's explanation at the King's Cross Station was somewhat confusing (or maybe I was in a hurry to finish the book..takut kena tangkap ngan boss!! hahaha..).

Truth be told, I wasn't all that excited about the book coming out. I didn't enjoy the 6th one - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Firstly, it was wayyyy too long and I remember being irritated because everything was a secret that Dumbledore couldn't reveal lah kononnya...and I didn't really believe then that Dumbledore had died. So, when this supposedly last book came out, I wasn't all that gung-ho about it. In fact, not many people in Geneva (maybe even whole of Switzerland) was. Apparently there wasn't any mad scrambles or long queues outside the bookshops here on the day it came out.

Anyway, glad to know Harry Potter triumphed and reached a happy ending although Dumbledore did die in the 6th book. Hoorah for JK Rowling (apparently rhymes with bowling, rather than howling!) ..now one of the richest women in the world! And I like the song peeves the ghost sang at the end ...

"we did it, we bashed them, wee Potter's the one, and Voldy's gone mouldy, so now let's have fun!"

On a sombre note, I also read today in Malaysia's online newspaper about the dead girl found in a bag, with a cucumber and a brinjal (what is that?) up her vajeejee. I am shocked, to say the least. What kind of sick a b*st*rd would do such a thing?? He (or they?) is worst than Voldermot! These kind of news yang buat I takut nak balik Malaysia. Not that it doesn't happen here...but the frequency of it happening in Malaysia seems to be greater...much greater!! So, what do I do? Spend the rest of my life and my girls' lives in perpetual fear and paranoia? Kesian diorang...and kesian me too!!

For now, like superwomanwannabee, I'm changing my doa. I ask now for ALLAH swt to always keep my girls safe from those monsters...to spare us the out-of-mind, out-of-this-world heartache those many parents of missing children are going through...Ya ALLAH..jauhkanlah...

Hmm..teringat pulak what Molly Weasley's said to Bellatrix at the end (when Bellatrix was duelling with Ginny) - "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU *ITCH!!"

Selamat Berpuasa...

A bit late, I know tapi today is my first day of puasa (nudge, nudge, wink, wink!) so am thinking its only relevant if I write about our puasa days now. hehe...

Anyways, just to report that the rest of the gang's Puasa days are going along fine...alhamdulillahhh...kak long and kak ngah are showing much maturity by embracing this ibadah effortlessly this year. Alhamdulillahhhh...cuma Sarah jer yang belum faham the compulsory-ness of puasa but she and Soraya knows enough to respect orang yang berpuasa. So, there is no prancing around dangling food depan kakak-kakak! Alhamdulillahhh...I tried to get her to at least puasa half a day last weekend but Sarah refused to even get up for sahur. Tak per...Mummy will try again next weekend.

You know...there are 2 things I "recovered" when we moved here - my love for reading and writing (counted as 1 lah!) and my interest in cooking (am using "interest" rather than "love" coz cooking is a chore but on a good day, I enjoy it and I do it really well!). When I went back to Malaysia after finishing my studies, I stopped writing (well...letters, at least! still had to write those stuff at work!) and cooking altogether. For various reasons. There never seem to be any time for leisure writing and there are so much food available everywhere to even bother cooking. You knowlah what I mean!

So, moral of the story...since moving here, I seem to have found time...time to read...to write...to cook and bake and on top of all that, I found time to be with the girls everyday..this posting meant no outstation work for Mummy!! yay!

Ok..back to what I'm trying to tell here...which is about cooking in this puasa month. Its only been 5 days and I'm already running out of ideas of what to cook for buka and for sahur. Yeap, I have to cook for sahur too coz Abah would like to have at least 1 freshly cooked dish during sahur..well, to be fair, he's not strict about it but the isteri solehah that I am...ehem!

So far, I've managed to come up with masak lemak udang + nenas, masak lemak ikan kering + nenas (not on the same day, of course!), masak assam ikan (donno what ikan but it looks like ikan keli tu...), sup tulang...Oklah, kan? Semalam, upon request from Kak Ngah, we had chicken chop! Yum yum! The kids' Abang (or sometimes referred to as Uncle) Johan was kind enough to make the black pepper sauce and garlic bread. The kids ate till they cannot walk!

During the day yesterday we baked raya cookies! Not meant for raya but for munchies after buka. They were goood...nestum cookies and cornflake cookies! By the way, at this juncture, perhaps I should qualify my earlier statement, cooking is my interest, yes but I luuurrrrve baking! Am proud enough to pat my own back everytime I bake! hehe..eh! tak boleh takabbur, kan! But just so you know, I bake yummy (or so I claim...) cakes - carrot, apple, banana, cheese cakes, you name it. But..I cannot make chocolate cakes. Still can't come up with a moist chocolotey chocolate cake!

Am also learning the art of making kueh-kueh melayu...so far, I've been successful (or so I claim..) in making kueh cara...apam balik...currypuffs...and latest, cucur udang gerai style! Senang ajer rupanya kueh2 kita ni!

I found this blog - Kitchen Guardian - belonging to an old friend. Am hoping she will continue to write and share her recipes coz GOD knows I need them now! Found also many other blogs owned by mummies proud of their culinary skills..best nyer!! Good to know there are many modern mummies in Malaysia who are making time to cook for their family. I must admit, before coming here, we were perpetually eating out, konon tak sempat nak masak! Hopefully, balik nanti I will continue to cook and bake for Abah and the girls as I do today...

So folks, what do you reckon I should cook today??

Petronas - No Charge!

this is the ad I was talking about...

Bapak

9 September that just passed should have been Bapak's 74th birthday. But he died 6 years ago. If he were to be around, birthdays would be celebrated, especially his. But since his passing, birthdays are celebrated when there's time to do so..if it happens on a weekend, or a holiday or if it happens to be remembered! His birthdays are never to be celebrated again...although most certainly never forgotten!

Saw an ad, which made me think of Bapak and prompted me to make this entry. Its about a boy and his dad. Well duhhh...obviously I'm not a boy! But the ad reminds me of my own relationship with Bapak.

Bapak and I used to write to each other allllllll the time! I was in England for 6 years and we wrote to each other every week without fail! And thats not counting the monthly "reverse" phone calls! we send cards to each other for the special occasions...we even gaduh via letters!

We simply shared all our life stories. ..but now, the postman no longer delivers...bapak will never read this blog and he will never know my girls...

I realise now, Bapak was my all time best friend and when he died, he broke my heart...i miss him so...

Al-fatihah...

Summer days

Living in a country with 4 seasons, people like us yang ramai anak ni thrives on sunny summer days...days when the kids can run amok in the fields and playgrounds...swim in the pools and lakes...but truth be told, i'm more of a winter person..nothing beats dark days spent in bed, under a thick duvet with a good book or a good company..ehem...steaming mug of hot coffee..hmmm..but i digress...

As with last summers, there was a fair share of picnics and BBQs this year...at least the kids, big (the daddies) and small (the actual kids) had loads of fun being together..mummies, seperti biasa, spent most of the time preparing the food, serving the food and cleaning after, made bearable by the gossips and shared dreams of owning more branded shoes and handbags in between!

In all probability, this will be our last summer in Geneva...am so gonna miss the amazing views of the lake! Managed to capture them with our oh-so-canggih-sony cybershot!

Sight for sore eyes, you reckon?

The Real Colmar!

After we sent Wan off at Zurich airport that 19th August, we joined Auntie Aishah's, Ita's, Amy's, Yati's and Hanum's families for a day trip to the real Colmar in France! Its about an hour away from Zurich. So laden with bekalan, we met up near Basel and made our first stop outside Colmar for our first picnic. There was so much food! Too bad we were too hungry to take pictures! But there were nasi lemak..nasi puteh...pulut..mee goreng...sambal bilis..sambal udang..ayam goreng...the works!! yum yum!!

Colmar is cute..we've never been to Malaysia's Bukit Tinggi's Colmar Tropicale so we could not make comparisons but I bet you this real Colmar is more..well..real! First, no entrance fees! hahaha...

Filled with cute buildings with a river running through it made Colmar the typical little french town we always see on TV...tapi things like souvenirs are a bit on the high side in terms of price so most of us went home with only fridge magnets! As there were more iyya-kanak-budu than adults in our party, we decided to take the tour train. Itupun the whole group tak leh muat in one trip so Aishah and Abg Yunos, Ita and Azwa had to go on the 2nd tour. okeyyyy laaaa....

At the end, everyone voted for home although initially we wanted to move on to Strasbourg. we had a 2nd picnic in Swiss land where we finished almost everything and declared the trip a success!! Well done Ita, the organizer! Nanti kita plan another trip yer...

Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg

well folks..as advertised, mumsie and her brood went off to Holland and Belgium for our holidays this summer and singgah for a couple of hours kat Luxembourg on our way back... penat woo...

Again, as you can see , we took off one seat, bentang sleeping bag and some duvets, minus Kak Teeny...we started the journey on 23 August 2007...Since Abah insisted on getting a new portable DVD player, we had to wait whilst he dashed off the Conforama to get one. So, with full knowledge that it'll take us about 12 hours to get to The Hague, we left home at 11.30 am! Needless to say, we arrived at about midnite in the Hague laden with apologies to our gracious hosts - Muja and Yusry - thanks Azwa, for introducing us!

The next day, still recovering from the long journey, we took our time and went off to the small towns of Volendam and Zaans Schans, as recommended by Muja. Cute little fishing towns, they were! Highlight of the visit was us dressing up as traditional Flemish family and took pictures!! The girls really enjoyed that and of course, being mummy's girls, they were the cutest ones there..ehem...

As the day was still early, Abah suggested we toured what we can of Rotterdam. After literally groping in the dark streets of Rotterdam, we found the cubic houses the city is famous for! Till today, we still wonder how the rooms are arranged in the cubes!

3rd day...we toured bits of The Hague. Nice and cozy. We stopped by the International Court of Justice. By stopping by I mean loitering at the front gate, taking loads of pictures! We had lunch in the city centre before setting of for Amsterdam.

Now...Amsterdam is happening!! Macam-macam ada...we started with the canal cruise..the short cut way of seeing as much of Amsterdam as we can! The buildings are beautiful!

There's 2 highlights of Amsterdam - first, the visit to Anne Frank's house...where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Germans during the 2nd World War. The girls really enjoyed that..at the end of the visit Sarah aptly concluded "Kesiannnnn..." Picture taking was not allowed in the house so can only show you this picture of Abah queueing at the entry whilst the girls wait by the canal...

2nd highlight was of course the walk down the Red Light District! Poor Abah had to make do visiting the place with us girls! Needless to say, the girls was a bit shocked! hehe...Now they know why some Tshirts have "Good girls go to Heaven, bad girls go to Amsterdam" written on them! Here's Abah trying to look like he doesn't care that he's at the world's famous red light district with his family!! hehehe...

The 4th day, we left Muja and Yusry with much gratitude, and singgah the beach near The Hague before going off to Antwerp. Surprisingly, since she doesn't really enjoy swimming pools, Soraya really enjoyed the beach. Kakak-kakak dia lagilaaa...Needless to say, Mummy had to deal with the aftermath..of cleaning them up as best I can using wet tissues! tak pe...janji anak2 enjoy....

Sebelum ke Antwerp, we stopped by a small town called Delft. A place famous for the Dutch blue porcelaine...tapi mahal laaa..so after listening to explanations as to how the make the plates and stuff and menjamu mata at the souvenirs shops, we left for Antwerp.

Antwerp was a good destination. It has a beautiful square...too bad we couldn't spend that much time as we had to hurry to Brussels.

Di Brussels, we stayed at Wan Suraya's place, reached after much hassle since we all sesat sarat barat! It was only the next day that we saw Wan Su's place for what it was - huge (by Geneva standard) and complete with a garden. Of course, we were green with envy! So green that we forgot to take any pictures of it!


5th day was spent at the much recommended town of Brugge. Beautiful is the best word to describe the town...Am so in love with the whole idea of Brugge...the canals, the square, the fancy biscuits and especially with the lace and tapestry shops! yum yum!!

6th day was Brussels city...OK-OK jer...we went to the usual tourist spots..the Grandplatz..the Manneken Pis and Mini Europe...by then the girls as well as Mummy and Abah were tired and very much ready to go home!!

By the way..here's a little info I got from the net about the famous Manneken Pis - for those who has never heard about this, it is a little bronze statute of a little boy pissing, literally! -

There are several legends behind this statue, but the most famous is the one about a 2-year-old Duke who was put in a basket by his troops and hung on a tree to lure the enemy. From there, he urinated on the enemy troops, who eventually lost the battle.
Another legend goes like this: In the 14th century, Brussels was under siege by a foreign power. The city had held their ground for quite some time. The attackers had thought of a plan to place explosive charges at the city walls. A little boy named Juliaanske from Brussels happened to be spying on them as they were preparing. He urinated on the burning fuse and thus saved the city.

Anyways, back to our trip...we thought it would be a waste not to stop by Luxembourg since it is sooo on the way home...since it was late by the time we left Brussels (what else is new..you may ask..) we decided to do the adventurous thing and spent a nite in the Chrysler at a rest area just outside Luxembourg. It was...fun, to a certain extent. No problem falling asleep since we were all very tired. Cuma it got a bit too cold in the middle of the night! hehehe...too bad there is no picture of that nite to share with you here...

So, last but not least..on the last leg of our trip, we went to Luxembourg the next morning...unfortunately, the city is not all that great...alah..tak pe lah! At least we can say we've touched the grounds of Luxembourg...Mummy had the secret desire to visit Villeroy and Boch factory outlet but did not pursue the idea as the girls were screaming to go home and, ehem..cash was a tad too low by then! Tak syok la pegi tak de duit! Teeny pun tak der...kalau tak, boleh pinjam duit dia..Haha...

We reached Geneva safely in the early evening of 29th August..tired, hungry but very happy to be home...it was great, the trip..but we all agreed - THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FARIHAH MAISARAH!

My baby turns 6 today!! kejap ajer...i really do not want the girls to grow up this fast..i want them to take their time...to continue to ask mummy's permission for EVERYTHING...to be cute and cuddly..and to be there for mummy..ALL THE TIME!!

Well, Happy Birthday anyways, my sweet Sarah..may your 6th year be an eventful and happy year...as always, you deserve the best of times! Mummy and Abah loves you...forever and ever!!
In her six years, Sarah has come a long way...gone today the chubby little girl with curly hair...the tantrum throwings and perpetual need for MILO has also reduced greatly, by her own free will...

Sarah today is a girl...anak dara...with shoulder length hair (she wants it longer!) which she insist on brushing herself! She wants to "arrange" her fringe, you see... Sarah is also doing very well in school and has made Mummy very proud! Keep it up, girl!

By the way, Sarah's birthday coincides with the first day at school..phewww! after 2 months of summer vacation, the girls, as well as Mummy and Abah was relieved for this day..no more bumming around watching TV and messing the house all day long! And this time, things are a bit different, what with Wan's absence. Everything must be super organized! So far so good...we were actually early getting the girls to school. Sarah had to wait outside whilst the school door opens and she was the first few to arrive in class. But then again, it has only been a day!! Hahahaha...